THE Federal Opposition’s tourism spokesman has urged operators to "hunt as a pack" to secure maximum return for the local tourism industry.

Bob Baldwin was invited by the LNP candidate for Fisher Mal Brough, to take a helicopter flight to get a clear impression of what the region has to offer.

"You have an amazing vista. I mean travelling through the hinterland, over the dam, down over the coast, on the sand, the top end of Bribie Island, I’ve got to tell you it’s very very picturesque," Mr Baldwin said after touching down at Australia Zoo.

"You just need to sell it a little bit better. You need to work together as a team or, as I term it, hunt as a pack, and make sure that you people know, beyond your own community, what you actually have here as tourism assets.

"Your competition is not the beaches as against the hinterland, one enterprise against the other; your competition is other areas, other regions, and other international destinations like Fiji and Bali."

Mr Baldwin said the region provided a wide range of experiences, from the beach through to natural attractions and adventure tourism, as well as staples like shopping.

"There needs to be a symbiotic relationship with all operators that people might come here as a day destination from the Brisbane accommodation market and what we need to do is up-sell them from one experience to come back and try another experience, so you get people coming back."

Terri Irwin, of Australia Zoo, said tourism was an ideal industry for generating income without destroying anything.

"It’s a great way to show what you’ve got and still keep things intact," Ms Irwin said.

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AFTER two years of recovery and rehabilitation from mistreatment, Dusty the sulphur-crested cockatoo had flown free for only six weeks before he was shot.

He is recovering in the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital after surgery to remove a pellet embedded in one of the bones in his leg, but his life is still in danger.

His injury has shattered wildlife carer Claire Smith, who spent two years helping him regain the strength and confidence to be a wild bird after he was stolen as a nestling and his wings brutalised to keep him grounded.

"I went to see him and to see that bird back in a cage, looking very miserable, it broke my heart," she said.

Ms Smith said Dusty was found wounded in Churchill St, Palmwoods, this week.

She said that although the pellet was removed from his leg on Thursday, there was a chance that Dusty might have nerve damage which would prevent his return to the wild, or worse, necessitate euthanasia.

Ms Smith is also worried about another cockatoo, Polly, who was released with Dusty and has not been seen.

"He had come back from a pretty awful start in life and the same with Polly," she said.

"She had a pretty awful wing injury which took months to get right.

"It was amazing to see the two birds flying free. They were really, really good for each other.

"It’s no small feat to get these birds back flying and then someone does this."

Ms Smith said she had come across other examples of wildlife that had been shot, including other parrots that had come into her care.

She said Australia’s wildlife was part of what made the nation special.

Tough penalties should b meted out to anyone who deliberately injured or killed wildlife to deter others from mistreating native animals, she said.

Ms Smith said Dusty’s plight had attracted attention on her Facebook page, Australian Wildlife News.

"It’s very comforting and it’s very sad at the same time because you just can’t ignore that Dusty’s been shot," she said.

Anyone with information on Dusty’s shooting should phone Palmwoods police station on 5445 0749.

THE new star of Nim’s Island says it’s an honour to take over the titular role from Abigail Breslin in the sequel to the popular 2008 children’s film. Bindi Irwin, daughter of late wildlife hero Steve Irwin, has taken over the reins in Return To Nim’s Island, out now in cinemas nationwide.

"I’m so excited, it’s such a wonderful film," Irwin told The Cairns Post. "I remember watching the first Nim’s Island and it was amazing, so to star as Nim in the second movie is such an honour. I’m thrilled."

The Queensland-based wildlife hero says a few of her friends from Australia Zoo even came along for the ride.

"They say never work with children and animals, well the funny thing is that I’m a child working with animals," she giggled.

"(Having the Australia Zoo animals) was kind of like having the family on set. They did a great job, they were so good around the cameras."

Between takes at WHO’s Sydney photo shoot on March I3, Bindi Irwin, in a white sundress, with her olive skin lightly made up and honeyed waves of hair framing her features, draws a double take from a passerby. At 14, she’s no longer the little girl with crimped pigtails and a gap-toothed smile. "It’s funny because I guess I have grown up a little bit," says Bindi, who has graduated from the small screen to make her feature-film debut in Return to Nim's Island. "My voice has deepened a little. I don’t sound like I’m on helium anymore."

But while she concedes "it’s fun to dress up and be a bit of a girl" every now and again, Bindi is still her father’s daughter: "Khaki is my chosen colour - it’s not just a colour, it’s an attitude."

It’s been more than six years since Bindi lost her dad, "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin. The wildlife crusader was 44 and Bindi 8 when he was fatally pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming near Port Douglas, Queensland, on Sept. 4, 2006. Just over two weeks later, she was given a standing ovation after delivering a eulogy to a crowd of 5,000 and a global TV audience of more than 300 million.

It’s hardly been a typical childhood for Bindi and her brother Robert, 9, who live with mother Terri, 45, at their home at Australia Zoo, in Beerwah, Queensland.
Birthdays, for exanple, tend to be marked by wild animal experiences. For her 10th, Bindi was allowed to feed a saltwater crocodile for the first time. "It was probably the biggest moment in my entire life," she recalls, her brown eyes wide.

"You grow up watching your mum and dad feeding salties, so it’s kind of like graduating from croc school."

Bindi and Robert are schooled by correspondence, with tigers or elephants occasionally stopping by their outdoor classroon. Bindi, whose favourite subject is English, is a "straight-A student," Terri tells WHO. By keeping her schooling flexible she has been able to fit in filming commitments for shows such as Bindi the Jungle Girl, Bindi's Bootcamp, Steve Irwin's Wildlife Warriors and the 2010 DVD Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove. So when she was approached to star in Return to Nim's Island, the sequel to 2008’s Nim's Island, which starred Abigail Breslin as a girl trying to save her island paradise home from developers, it was a perfect fit.

"I’ve done a little bit of acting in the past, hut nothing to this scale," she says. "I’m really excited about my first theatre-release movie."

Working with costars including John Waters, Toby Wallace, a couple of sea lions and a bearded dragon on the action-adventure flick was "such a wonderful experience," says Bindi, who praises the movie's "beautiful message" about family, conservation and wildlife. "Nim’s trying to save her island from development, and in real life at the moment I’m trying to protect a place called the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve in Far North Queensland, which is under threat of being strip-mined for bauxite. So I understood where Nim was coming from."

Growing up with parents passionate about animals and the environment (US-born Terri ran a wildlife rehabilitation centre before she met Steve), it’s no surprise that for Bindi "conservation and wildlife is kind of in my blood." She was raised in front of the camera (Terri was even filmed giving birth to her) and that’s something Bindi feels grateful for, "especially after losing Dad." In quiet moments, she and Robert "watch Dad’s DVDs and all these memories come flooding back," says Bindi. Her brother, she reports, is keen to emulate his father: "He studies Dad so carefully."

Determined to honour Steve’s 1ife, the tight-knit family deemed Nov. 15 Steve Irwin Day. "Time, I don’t think, heals wounds, it just kind of changes things," reflects Bindi. "So you're not desperately sad every day, but there’s always a piece of your heart that’s missing and you’ll never get back."

Watching her father in action is a "nice reminder of whv you’re doing what you’re doing, because everything I do in life is to make Mum and Dad proud," says Bindi. "I want to make sure his legacy lives on and never dies." Terri sees "a lot of Steve" in her teenage daughter: "She is very sweet and lovely, and very determined," she says. "When she grows up, she will be a force to be reckoned with."

She might be a self-proclaimed wildlife warrior and a "girl on a mission," but there’s more to Bindi than her beloved khakis. She’s "obsessed with books" (everything from Wendy Orr’s novels to The Teachings of Buddha, which she is reading now). She cooks almost every day - stir fries are a specialty - and is a keen surfer. She is terrified of scary movies but enjoys Modern Family and loves singing and dancing along to the Veronicas, Jessica Mauboy and, thanks to her dad’s influence, AC/DC.

As for finding a boyfriend, spending time with rhinos and giraffes is still higher on the priority list for Bindi, who turns 15 on July 24. "I have friends that are girls and friends that are boys. Why make things complicated?" she says with a laugh, though she adds that one day she would like to have a family.

In the meantime, she lhas a budding acting career to tend to. Chris Brown, the producer of Return to Nim's Island (which opens nationally from March 25), believes Bindi has real potential in the movie industry and "has matured into an amazing young actress." But if that’s the path she chooses to go down, it won’t be the glitz and glamour of Hollywood that lures her. She doesn’t have any celebrity crushes and her favourite superhero is still her dad. "I love filming, because with filming I’m able to bring my message of conservation to a wider audience," she says. "So in the future I’d love to broaden my horizons and see where my film career takes me, and I’m really excited about it. But wildlife and conservation is where my heart lies." It’s a sentiment that wouldn't surprise Steve if he could see his girl today, according to Terri: "Steve used to say, 'I think Bindi’s going to be a much bigger deal than I ever will be.’"

Bindi's spreading the word
When she’s not studying, filming or working at Australia Zoo, Bindi is trying to initiate discussions on the issues that most concern her. "I want to start talking about problems that people seem to be avoiding, like overpopulation and the non-consumptive use of wildlife," she says. Bindi was recently asked to write an essay for Hilary Clinton's e-journal, in which she urged action on overpopulation. But when it was returned to her heavily edited, she pulled it from publication. "I was really sad," she says. "I always say, the true test of freedom of speech is when someone says something that you don't like." Is there a politician in the making in Bindi? "Maybe!"